In 2013, one year after the succession of Kim Jong-Il, North Korean leader Kim Jong-unreunites North and South Korea to form the Greater Korean Republic. The influence of China and the United States decline in the face of continued economic stagnation and a war between Iran and Saudi Arabia disrupting Middle East oil supply, while Europe is cut off by a Russian-Ukrainian "mutual interest" deal. As the United States withdraws overseas troops to deal with domestic instability, including the secession of Texas and an outbreak of bird flu known as the Knoxville Cough, the Greater Korean Republic annexes Japan and several Southeast Asian countries. Finally, in 2025, a satellite, launched under the cover of a program to replace the decaying Global Positioning System, detonates a nuclear electromagnetic pulse over the continental United States. The destruction of above-ground electronics across the country is followed by troop landings in Hawaii and San Francisco, paratrooper droppings across the Midwest, and the irradiation of the Mississippi River to divide the United States. The American military remains isolated and scattered.